Rubber-soled shoe.



M. W. WHITE.

RUBBER SOLED SHOE.

APPLICATION FILED III/IR. 24. 1915.

1,215,49.. f Panted Feb.13,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WVM/TUR l I M. W. WHITE.

RUBBER SOLED SHOE. APPLICATION FILED MA11.24. 1915.

1,215,449. Peeeneed 11eb.13,1917.

2 SMEETS--SHEET 2.

Wvg/721g.,

s'ra -PATENTO MELBOURNE W. WHITE, OF CLIFTONDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, AssIGNoR To UNITED SHOEv MACHINERY COMPANY, or PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OE NEW JERSEY.

To all whom t may concern.

Be it knownv that I, MELBOURNE W. WHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cliftondale, inthe county of Es- 5 sex and State of Massachusetts, have invented. certain Improvements in Rubber- Soled Shoes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicatin like parts inthe several figures.

Thls invention relates' to rubber soledsneakers, which have composition rubber' soles vulcanized to the bottoms of the shoes. The sneakers, while providing a cheap summer shoe for outdoor wear, have t.wo objectionable characteristics. They sweat the feet because, according to the method by which they have heretofore been manufactured, the

Ainnersole is necessarily made of a vulcanizl able composition. Alsothey are, relativelyl shapeless and lack the neat appearance d-e- This-is because it is not sired in a shoe. practicable to last the shoe. inthe ordinary way since the composition innersole will not hold lasting tacks and the only shaplng to the last which sneakers receive is effected by ullin the -upper with the fingers and v stic ng t e margin of the upper to the in-l nersole by cement.

- properly-lasted in this manner, rst, be

cause the operator cannot apply suicient tension to the upper by his lingers and,.,sec-

ondly, if it were practicable by this method to apply suiiicent tension the adhesive 4by which the edge of the upper is secured to the innersole would not hold the upper so .tensioned l While thelwelt and McKay sewed rubber soled shoes are more -shapely and attractive,

they are heavyl and clumsy particularly for .50 summer wear, since thel rubber sole must.-

be of extra thickness in order'to enable it to be sewed to the shoe and to hold 'the stitches during wear. Moreover, thesesoles.` are of comparatively expensive' compositionI and soon wear out. f

RUBBEmsoLED' SHOE.v

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led March 24, 1915. l Serial No. 16,718.

The upper cannot be Patented Feb. 13, v191m.

The present invention has for its princlpal ObJect a process of making rubber -soled shoes in which the objectionable features of the above mentioned shoes are eliminated and whereby a neat appearing light shoe may be produced at a cost far below that of shoes having rubber soles secured by stitching and little, if any, greater than the cost of manufacturing sneakers according` to methods heretofore used. v c5 he novel shoe producedl by the process ofthe present invention is not claimed hereinbut forms the subject-matter of my copendi'ng application Serial No. 108,686 filed July l1, 1916. l One manner in which the novel method of my invention may be successfully `practised will now be described and is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which also'illustrate novel shoes embodying my 75 invention, and inv which,--

Figure 1 is a perspective Viewof a completed shoe made in accordance `with this lnventionyl Fig. 2 shows the shoe after lasting ,but 80 before the application of the sole and' heel;

I Fig.-3 is an enlarged sectional detail illustrating the arrangementv of the various bottoming materials; Y v

Fig. 4 is a section through the toe on an `85 enlarged scale; Fig. 5 isa section in the shank and heel portions On a similar scale; and' A Fig. 6. is a view 'of the preferred shank stiifener ready for application to a shoe.

In carrying out the process of this invention in one manner in which it lhas been successfully practised', the shoe upper 2 of leather, canvas or other. fabric isv first 'provided with a `fiber heel stifener '3 ofsuitable 95 shape inserted between two plies of the upper stock. The toe portion of the upper is prefv -erably given permanence o`f shape by'sti-lfen-- ing the upper either with materials applied inliqui'd form to the upper or by an inserted 199 .toe stiifener 4, Fig. 4. This upper v1s then assembled upona last 5 which is. of metal and preferablyv aluminum alloy, together with an innersole 6 of fibrous material, which may be leather or any4 of he fibrous substitutes for leather. yTheterm* fibrous vegetablefiber made according to the sulte high degree of heat required to vulcanize,

the ,outersole to .the shoe.l

The assembled shoe is now in Fig. 2, preferably, on type of lasting machine which stretches and shapes the upper to the contour of Vthe last the 'same asa McKay or welt shoe is shaped and permanently secures thetensioned upper tothe innersole by lasting tacks 8 driven lasted, as shown through the marginal edge of the lasted upper and the innersole and clenched on the bottom of the metal last. The bottom of the shoe, after-it has been lasted, is then-made level for the reception and even support of the outersole by filling the space within the overlasted edge of the upper with a vulcanizable composition or filler 9. When the shoe is to be provided with a heel, a shank stiffener is preferably employed, and a novel arrangement is adopted in lthis respect as well as in the means for securing the shank stiffenerin position on the shoe. To cause v the stifener to be securely attached to the vulc'anizable bottoming materials, the stiffening element 12, which is preferably of spring metal, is first placed between sheets or folds 13 of friction fabric as shown in Fig. 6, so as to provide the stiffening element with laterally projecting attaching fins. The stiifener so constituted is placed on the filler 9 with its rear end on the heel seat, or in the rear of the location for the breast of the heel and after the outersole has been applied the stiffener is securely vulcanized in place, becoming practically a part of the filler and outersolel which make a cushionabove and below e it and produce a strong and yet exceedingly ,comfortable construction for the shoe.

vulcanizable strip 15 of high grade rubber side of the shoe near the edge and is lapped in over the lasted-in margin of the upper on the shoe bottom. A binder, of friction fabric 16 isnow applied tothe bottom of the shoe, the binder overlapping the inner margin of the foxing. lThe outersole18, died out from a sheet of calendered rubber or rubberlike composition, is then applied-to the shoe bottom and after being accurately placed to extend over the margin of the rubber foxing to the edge of the shoe, is forced firmly against the shoe bottom as by rolling pressure to conform it to the contour of the bottom of the last.l

If the shoe is Ato have a heel, as herein shown in Figs. 1 and 5, the formed heel 20 which'may orfrnay not be of vulcanizable material may now be attached. Preferably the heel consists of iberstock, such for eX- ample as that employed for the innersole, and is fastened to the shoe by heel attaching l nails 21 extending through the heel and the the hand method lthe -mer wear., since the heel seat portion of the innersole and clenched upon the metallic bottom of the last. The sole need not extend to the rear end of the'shoe but may terminate a short y distance back of the breast line, thus saving .tend for a short distance over the adjacent portion of the upper so as to constitute around the counter portion of the shoe substantially a continuation of the foxin 15. rlhis covering 23 adheres to the underlying surfaces of the heel and upper and when vulcanized it becomes permanently attached to said surfaces and constitutes a water-excluding envelop having an appearance uniform with the outersole and the foxing. For some classes of shoes the rubber covering may be omitted and in that case the shoe may, if desired, be vulcanized before the heel /is applied and the heel then nailed on as in the manufacture of all leather shoes.

VThe shoe is now placed in a vulcanizing apparatus where it remains from 12 to 24 hours ata temperature of. from 200 to 300 degrees F. during which time the rubber and rubber-like composition are thoroughly cured and vulcanized. During this step in the process all of the vulcanizable portions of the shoe including the outersole and the foxing form a substantially integral body-and become permanently attached to the overlasted margin of the upper, the heads of the lasting tacks, the shank stiffener and the filler.

The rubber soled shoes produced by the herein described process are far superior to sneakers in both appearance and t and they are more comfortable, particularly for sumfber innersole provides an effective insulation or protection for the wearers feet from the drawing and sweating action of a rubber-composition innersole material, such as heretofore used'. Moreover, the expense involved in the manufacture of the shoes of this invention is substantially no greater than the cost of manufacturing sneakers. Thedifl'erence in this res ect is indicated by the fact that the upper or the shoes of this inventionare cut a size smaller than the uppers which are lasted by the fingers thereby effecting a -saving in upper stock which is equal to the cost of the lasting and tacking operation.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim a's new and desire-to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. That improvement in the methodof making shoes which consists in assembling innersole on a st an upper and a ber t it for Yand securing it under lasted tension to the innersole by theV usual lasting tacks, applying vulcanizable outersole material to the bottom of the shoe and uniting the outersole material to the overlasted edge of the upper and lto the ber innersole by vulcanizatlon.

3. That improvement in the method of making shoes which consists in assembling' an upper, a counter and a ber innersole on a last, lasting the upper over on the innersole and permanently securing it to the innersole, applying a shank stiener to the shoe, applying vulcanizable outersole material, shaping said material to the bottom of the shoe, attaching a `ber heel to the shoe, and uniting the outersole material to the overlasted edge of the upper and the ber innersole by vulcanization.-

4. That improvementin the method of making shoes which consists in assembling on a last an upper and a ber linnersole lasting the upper over on the innersole and permanently securing it to the innersole, applying a ller of vulcanizable material in the space within the4 overlasted edge of the upper, applying a covering sheet lof friction fabric over the entire shoe bottom, ap.n plying vulcanizable outersole material, shaping said material to the bottom of the shoe and uniting the bottoming materials and the upper by vulcanization.

'5. That improvement in the method of making shoes which consists in assembling on a last an upper and a ber innersole, lasting the upper over on the innersole and permanently securing it to the innersole under tension, applying a ller of vulcanizable material shaped to occupy the space within the overlasted edge of the upper, locating a shank stiii'ener incased between two sheets of friction fabric upon the ller, applying metallic fastenings,

a vulcanizable outersole and` subjecting the.

bottoming materials toa vulcanizing heat.

6. That improvement in the method of making shoes which consists in on a metal last an upper and a sole which has suicient body to adapt it for holding metal fastenings, lasting the upper over upon the innersole and permanently seassembling r ber innerd v curingit to the innersole under tension by y metallic fastenings, applying a ller of vulcanizable material shaped to occupy the space .Within the overlasted edge of the upper, locating a shank stiffener which is incased between two sheets of friction fabric upon the ller, applying'a f oXing along the lower edge of the shoe, applying a connect-- ing sheet of friction fabricA over-the llel` and the edge of the upper, applying an outersole of vulcanizable materlal, shapinggsaidl outersole material to the bottom face ofthe shoe and over the foxing and permanently uniting said bottoming materials andthe upper by vulcanization.

7. Thatimprovement 'in the method of making shoes which consists 'in assembling on a last a ber innersole and a fabric upper having a ber counter and a toe stilfener, stretching the upper about the manently securing it under tension to the innersole, locating a shank stiener on the4 bottom ofthe shoe, attaching a ber heel to the shoe, applying vulcani'zable outersole last and permaterial to the shoe bottom, and .uniting the i outersole material to the upper and innersole by vulcanization.

8. That improvement in the method of making shoes which consists in assembling a fabric upperv having a ber counter 'and a toe stifl'ener on a last together with a ber innersole which has ysuiiicient body to adapt it. for holdingmetallic fastenings, stretching the upper about the last and permanently securing it under tension to the lnnersole by applying a filler of vulcanizable material tom, locating a shank stifener upon the ller, permanently attaching a ber heel to the shoe, applying vulcan1zable. 'outersole material to the shoe bottom, and then subi jecting the shoe bottoming materials to a vulcanizing heat.

In testimony whereof I havesigned my name to-this specification.

MELBOURNE W. WHITE.

to the lasted shoe bot-V 

